Abstract
The Maritime Labour Convention (MLC 2006) entered into force in 2013. The MLC
2006 aims at creating a single, coherent global instrument, consolidating existing International
Labour Organisation conventions, and as well constitutes one of the main international
maritime instruments of the International Maritime Organization, together with
the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), the International
Convention for the Prevention of Pollution From Ships (MARPOL) and the International
Convention on Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping for Seafarers
(STCW).
Seafarers are entitled to lodge complaints on board a ship in case of non-compliance with
the legal standards, procedures, or guidelines set forth in the MLC 2006, including seafarers’
human rights. The complaint system must include safeguards against victimisation.
In 2015, the regulations of the MLC 2006 were implemented into a new Polish Act on
Maritime Labour (MLA 2015). One of the most innovative aspects of the MLA 2015, as
far as ILO Conventions are concerned, is the certification of seafarers’ living and working
conditions on board ships, regulated in Chapter 8 of the Act (entitled: MLC documents and
inspections and controls of the ship), as well as the on-board complaint procedure described
in a detailed manner in Chapter 9 of the new Act.
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